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Bintang Emon and the danger of being funny
At a time when the media is owned by corporations or controlled by the government, maybe we should turn to comedians as a more reliable source of the truth.
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This still image of comedian Bintang Emon taken for @bintangemon (@bintangemon/kompas.com/-)
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aughter is the best medicine they say, but we also know that medicine can have side effects, some pretty harsh and toxic ones in fact.
This is what 24-year-old comedian Bintang Emon found when he posted a short video on his Instagram account, expressing his surprise at how you can “accidentally” throw acid on someone’s face. In true comedic fashion, he pointed out that the law of gravity pulls objects downward. So unless the victim was walking on his hands (unlikely, especially coming out of a mosque after dawn prayers!), no way could the corrosive sulfuric acid have made its way to the victim’s face all on its own.
The acid-throwing victim is Novel Baswedan, a Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) investigator and former policeman who had been involved in the investigation of several high-profile cases. The incident happened on April 17, 2017, and the perpetrators were Chief Brig. Ronny Bugis and Brig. Rahmat Kadir. The acid caused severe damage to Novel’s left eye, effectively making him blind. His right eye was also affected but still has 50 percent vision. In the long run, doctors say, Novel could go totally blind.
The “accidental” nature of the assault was the justification for the judges handing down an absurdly lenient sentence of one year to the attackers. The maximum is 12 years. The final decision is still pending, so let’s hope the sentence will be more just.
Emon, like so many netizens, expressed bewilderment at the lenient sentence. Many consider it an embarrassment and proof that the trial was a sham. However, he was also attacked by other netizens, most likely “buzzers”, who accused him of using drugs. Emon got himself tested: He was clean.
Bintang Emon said he was just doing what he and many other comedians normally do, to address issues that cause social unrest in a comedic manner, in order to entertain.
The Bintang Emon case cannot be seen in isolation but has to be seen in the context of a series of other cases: from the criminalization of Robertus Robert, an academic accused of insulting the military, to the blocking of the internet in Papua, the criminalization of activist Ravio Patra (critical of the government including their handling of the coronavirus pandemic), the criminalization of many other activists and journalists, the hijacking of activists’ social media accounts to digital attacks on recent online discussions, etc.
